Past Festivals - 2009 Films

Zahara

2009 | 60 minutes

Director: Mohammad Bakri

With touching personal style and breathtaking cinematography, Director Mohammad Bakri tells the story of his 78 year old aunt Zahara, from the times of pre-state Palestine to present, leading the family with love and wisdom through the many trials of life.

Voices from El Sayed

2008 | 75 minutes

Director: Oded Adomi Leshem

In the picturesque Israeli Negev desert, the Bedouin village of El-Sayed has the largest percentage of deaf people in the world. Through the generations, a unique sign language has evolved making it the most popular language in this rare society, which accepts deafness as natural as life itself. The village’s tranquility is interrupted by Salim’s decision to change his deaf son’s fate and make him a hearing person using the Cochlear Implant Operation.

The Invisible

2009 | 70 minutes

Director: Gil Karni

A 12-year-long diary of the Bedouin village “Arab al-Na’im” in the Galillee and their struggle for their rights. The people of Arab al-Na’im have inhabited their land for the past 200 years, serve in the Israeli army, yet live in tin huts, without electricity or running water, and in constant struggle with the Israeli administration to be visible.

Telling Strings

2007 | 60 minutes

Director: Anne-Marie Haller

A rare look into the profound workings of the Jubran family, a Palestinian family of musicians from al-Rameh village in the northern Galilee. The Father, Elias, a musician and instructor has been building traditional string instruments such asouds and bouzouqs in his al-Rameh workshop since 1965. The film connects the history of two generations and questions cultural identity between protest, resignation and hope.

Oranges

Director: Maha Assal

A sweet story of friendship and neighbors. A man is angered by his neighbor picking oranges off his tree and decides to seek revenge.

Tel Aviv - Jaffa

Director: Boaz Rosenberg

A look into one of the unifiers of Israeli Jewish and Arab society – Hummus. This short documentary part of the Tel Aviv-100 docu-challenge project follows one of Yafo’s oldest and proudest establishments.

Bus Station - Ir-Amim

Director: Lily Sheffy

Two women, Arab and Jew meet at a bus stop in Jerusalem after a trip to the market. When their bags of tomatoes get confused they begin to understand the similarities and differences of their worlds.

Two (Shnaim)

Director: Shimon Richik

In the midst of the war in Gaza, a mixed Arab and Israeli couple debate the question of military service.

Heavy Silence

Director: Maysaloun Hamoud

Visions and pieces of memory are unveiled through a small crack in Alla’s prison cell. Through these excerpts of memory and fantasy Alla faces the futility of family honor and discovers the fate of the woman he loves.

SAZ - The Palestinian Rapper for Change

2005 | 51 minutes

Director: Gil Karni

An intimate documentary following budding Palestinian-Israeli hip-hop star from Ramlah, Sameh Zakout, a.k.a. Saz. The film follows his transformation from a young unknown rap singer into an international success, as well as his youthful quest for identity transformed into the voice of a struggling nation. The film also focuses on his relationship with his grandfather, an Israeli-Arab communist. Their conversations reveal their differing ideologies: “I don’t see my Palestine being built by blood,” says Saz. “It should be built by negotiations, not bombings. My bullets are my rhymes. My M-16 is my microphone.”

Sayed Kashua - Forever Scared

2009 | 56 minutes

Director: Dorit Zimbalist

Despite being one of Israel’s leading columnists, novelists and screenwriter, Sayed Kashua feels he doesn’t belong. The Jews don’t like him because he’s an Arab. The Arabs don’t like him because he’s successful. The Arabs think he’s a collaborator. The Jews think he’s a drunk. He’s always the “other” and he’s always scared. This intimate portrait follows Kashua over seven years through the upheavals and events that change his life, wandering from place to place, from nation to nation, belonging neither here nor there.

Laila's Birthday

2008 | 72 minutes

Director: Rashid Masharawi

A comically existential fable about a day in the life of a former-judge-turned-taxi driver, on the day of his daughter Laila’s seventh birthday. His only goal is to be home early with a present and a cake, but life takes him through many twists and turns before he gets home. His customers include a young Romeo who hires the taxi to have a place “alone” with his lover; a housewife who’ll stop anywhere there’s a free-food giveaway, armed Palestinian militia members, and an ex-convict who leaves his cell phone in the cab.

Jaffa

2009 | 100 minutes

Director: Keren Yedaya

In this Cannes Film Festival favorite, Director Keren Yedaya (Or) brings forth the dramatic story of Mali, who lives with her family in Jaffa, and works with her brother and father at the family owned car repair shop. Mali falls in love with Tauffik, a mechanic in the garage. Despite underlying racism and jealousy that surrounds them, their love affair grows. When Mali finds out she is pregnant, the couple decides to run away and get married abroad. On the morning of the flight, a tragic event reshapes this couple’s future.

City of Borders

2009 | 67 minutes

Director: Yun Suh

In the heart of Jerusalem stands an unusual symbol of unity that defies generations of segregation, violence and prejudice: a gay bar called Shushan. This award-winning documentary goes inside this underground sanctuary where people of opposing nationalities, religions and sexual orientations create an island of peace in a land divided by war. Through a coclorful cast of characters from all walks of life, the film explores the effort to find and share a sense of community in spite of differences of religion and nationality.

Badal

2005 | 56 minutes

Director: Ibtisam Mara'na

A Badal deal marriage’ is the common practice of a Muslim tradition where a brother and sister from one family marry a sister and brother from another family – interlocking the two couples forever. Divorce on the part of one couple will immediately lead to the divorce of the other part of the deal. The film follows a family during the process of putting such a deal together. It portrays the lives of Palestinian women living within Israel, their difficulties and struggle to be a part of their traditional society vs. the quest to maintain their full rights as women, and citizens of a democratic state.